Itch, Twitch, Love Knows Not Fear
by EpicSmiley12
Summary: It wasn't in her eyes, nor in her voice. That fact alone was more comforting than the moonlight on her skin. As requested. Jeanette and Eleanor SISTERS ONLY if you were wondering. THIS IS NOT YET FINISHED


**Hello again, my friends. Quite a few people have been requesting a story about a certain Chipette becoming a certain creature of the night. I decided this was a rather good idea, as the original story I'd planned for today didn't actually work out as well as I had wanted. I don't really know if this was the way y'all wanted it, but I, hope you like it nonetheless. Let's get to it!**

Soft warm glows of city lights illuminated the darkened evening sky. The music of clubs, theatres, and even late-night street performers began to fill the mild autumn air of California. Within one building, a small dance studio, a cheery dance rhythm floated from the door, and though it failed to attract the eyes of the people rushing by on the street, it was loud enough to put them in in a rather nice mood.

"One, two, one, two…" a voice mingled with the song track.

"There, that's it! You're getting it now." another voice encouraged.

"Wait, no! Step this way!" A third voice called.

"Oh, look out!"

"ACK!"

The music stopped with a loud CRASH and a slight splintering sound. Within the studio, the owners of the voices groaned in pain as they picked themselves up off the floor. The owner of the first voice, a teenaged female chipmunk by the name of Jeanette, struggled to focus her eyes as she lay against the table that had held the CD player. She stretched out her hand, fumbling around on the floor for her glasses. She heard footsteps coming toward her. She could just barely make out the features of her younger sister, Eleanor. The green-clad Chipette extended her arm for Jeanette, and in turn Jeanette raised her hand. Eleanor pulled her up, and then held up what looked like a purple, blotted object to her face. She rested their handles gently behind her sister's ears, and with just a couple blinks Jeanette could see clearly again. No that she could, however, she became well aware of the displeased expression on her older sister Brittany's face. Brittany was standing next to Eleanor, gingerly tapping at the fallen CD player. Jeanette blushed sheepishly.

"Oh...I-I'm sorry," she said softly. "I messed up again…"

"It's okay, Jeanette," Eleanor said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. "It's only our third runthrough; I messed up a bit, too."

"If only 'sorry' would save the CD," Brittany sighed irritably. "It's scratched." To prove her point, Brittany lifted the disc from its slot, showing off the jagged cut in its shiny surface.

"We could always ask Dave to scan a new one," Eleanor stated, trying to keep things optimistic. "He did save it on his computer."

"..." Brittany's mouth still held a pout as she examined her bright pink CD player, checking each of its components for any signs of serious damage. Jeanette lowered her head, biting her lip as tears pressed at her eyes. She went to rub them away, but had to settle for blinking as another itch made its way up her arm.

"Jeanette?" Eleanor had unfortunately caught on to her sister's distress. "It's okay, really. We can get another disc…"

"It's not that," Jeanette said in a near whisper. "..." for a single moment, she contemplated telling them everything...after all, they were sisters. Surely they would understand. They definitely wouldn't look at her any other way, or think of her any other way, right?

"I-I-I need some fresh air," Jeanette said suddenly. "I'll be back in a while!" Without waiting for a reply, she rushed out the door and through the lobby of the building, where she pushed the revolving door and stepped out into the street.

The air was cooler outside, but it did nothing to sooth her. Her arms and legs were beginning to itch again. She fought back the urge to scratch at them; instead she balled her hands into fists and tried to take deep breaths. Her left ear twitched, picking up on every little sound that entered it. Jeanette shook her head in frustration, rubbing away at the tears that slipped out of her eyes. She started down the street, making her way to the park in the older part of town. Not many people came out this way anymore, and the fewer souls to witness her predicament, the better. She kept her head ducked down as much as she could without bumping into anything. Finally she came to a seemingly abandoned area of the park, where the old jungle gym was. It was there that Jeanette finally allowed herself to lift her face, just as the pale moon rose above the glare of city lights and canopy of autumn tree branches.

The itch persisted in greater intensity, and the purple-clad Chipette groaned in pain. She had learned the hard way that any scratching would only hurt her severely, which was understandable with the way her nails had grown. She lifted her hands to her head, letting the newly-formed claws prick at her scalp. The pain helped sooth her, if only a little. It helped take her mind off other things. The tips of her ears seemed to have minds of their own. They twitched and wriggled and stretched, reddening with their owner's discomfort. It didn't cease until the lobes of Jeanette's ears were pointed near the state of elven proportions. Jeanette craned her neck upward, opening her mouth in a silent gasp as moonlight covered her. The itch suddenly felt more like a warm flame, traveling up her skin in soft ripples of light borrowed from the moon. Her hands left her head, and instead rested at her sides. Her nails and ears stopped growing, but her hair, along with the soft fur that covered her chipmunk body, grew slightly longer.

The transformation didn't last as long as it felt. Within a couple of minutes the warm, flame-like feeling was gone, and in its place was the simple cool of the night air. Jeanette sighed and looked up at the moon. Despite her transformation, tears still lingered in her eyes with memories of the months gone by, the recent events where the constant itching, the shivers and urges and twitches and _uncomfortableness_ that she suffered to keep her secret. Was she scared to tell them? Could she not simply summon the courage to confess what had happened to her? Or was she still trapped in those nightmares, the uncanny fears of being shunned and feared by her own family? As another set of tears streaked down her cheeks, glimmering against her fur in the moon's pale light, she lifted her chin and let out a long, miserable howl.

She cried her song to the moon until her lack of swallowing forced her to stop. Through her sorrow, she had failed to notice that another soul had happened upon her solo…

"Jeanette?" the soft voice of her youngest sister made the Chipette turn her head. She gasped, finally realizing that Eleanor had been standing behind her for what must have been a good five minutes. Ellie's lively green eyes were wide with amazement and disbelief. As Jeanette searched those quivering viridian orbs, she found that there was something unexpected there that she couldn't place...and she couldn't tell if that was good or bad. Either way, she couldn't get her mouth to form the words that were racing through her mind. Without another foreseeable option, Jeanette turned on her heels and ran away, further into the park toward the walking path leading through the woods.

"Jeanette, wait!" she ignored her sister's desperate calls. Instead she focused on getting enough moisture out of her eyes to see where she was running. Of course, having transformed into a lycan form of her rodentia self, she was able to put considerable distance between herself and Eleanor. Being already visually impaired, however, meant that the transformation had only improved her sight to the sharpness of a trained human, and thus tears were easily distorting her vision.

Jeanette didn't stop running until she had gone so far away from the playground that she didn't even see a path sign. Sighing heavily and resting her paws on a tree, she tried to think about what would be best for her to do now. She couldn't just leave; though Eleanor would never tell of something she knew should be kept secret, she wasn't naive and she certainly wouldn't allow herself to be ignored when it came to asking for answers. Though before she thought that far ahead, Jeanette remembered the current situation at hand. Her ears twitched again, and by centering her hearing she could hear footsteps rushing toward her location. Again the unreasonable panic enveloped her, and she darted behind a large tree before she could be seen.

"Jeanette?" Eleanor called, panting as she neared the area she had seen her sister disappear to. "Jeanette, where are you? Please come back…"

Said Chipette bit her lip, carefully avoiding cutting herself on her fangs. She thought about coming out, if only for a moment. But something stole her attention.

Her nose was twitching.

She glanced down cross-eyed at it. It twitched again as an unsettlingly familiar scent invaded her sense of smell. Cold sweat formed on her brow and her throat grew dry again as memories came flooding back. Somehow, without consciously moving herself, Jeanette felt her body lunge away from the tree and in front of Eleanor as the massive Wolf sprang from the thick bush in front of her sister. She stood on all fours, her back arched and a feral scowl on her face. The bigger wolf glared at her, its yellow eyes gleaming as it sized her up. It growled. Jeanette bared her fangs, raising a paw menacingly.

_Get away from us._

The larger lycan snarled, obviously thinking Jeanette's decision distasteful.

_You protect one that is not of you._

Jeanette's eyes narrowed. An uncharacteristic leer flashed across her face.

_How dare you! As ashes are to fire and as poison is to precious silver, I am of my sister and she is of me._

Again the wolf expressed his disapproval, pawing impatiently at the earth. Jeanette stood her ground, her glare never wavering and her body never yielding to the side Eleanor. For a long while they stood in silence. Then, with a clear growl of unfinished issues, the wolf sulked away into the forest, and Jeanette felt like she could breathe again. She relaxed her stance and, ever so slowly, turned her attention to her sister, who was still and quiet, watching her with awe in her eyes. Jeanette looked away, feeling her cheeks burning in pure worry and fear alone. She heard Eleanor move, and she clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the scream or the sound of running feet…

Instead she felt her sister's arms wrap around her.

She stiffened with shock, prompting Eleanor to release her and gaze earnestly at her face. Jeanette blinked, feeling the wretched tears bubbling up again.

"Why didn't you say something?" Eleanor asked. "We could have helped you, Brittany and I...the boys, Ms. Miller, and Dave, too."

"I…" Jeanette swallowed, her throat still dry from the howls, growls, and pent-up emotions. She shook her head, unable to change her thoughts into words. Eleanor hugged her again and didn't let go this time.

"I was scared," the youngest Chipette admitted. "I was scared, but then you came. You saved me. Thank you, sis…"

Jeanette slowly found herself hugging back. When she and her sister finally separated, the night had fully set in and the moon was strung high in the sky.

"We should go," Eleanor said. "Brittany and Ms. Miller have probably worried their heads off by now. And we should probably get out of here before that wolf comes back." Ellie gave an undetectable shudder. Jeanette gave a more noticeable one. Of course the wolf would be back - though he hadn't the scent of an alpha male, he was most likely quite strong within his pack, and would undoubtedly be able to swing their opinions in his favor. Jeanette set her shoulders and turned to the direction they had come from. With Eleanor close to her side they started walking as quickly as they could.

As they walked, Jeanette continued to steal glances at her sister's thoughtful face. Silently, she marvelled as everything began to clarify in her mind. Though it was obvious that Eleanor was off her guard involving the entire situation, she still refused to live up to her sister's unspoken fear. Ironically enough, it was her lack of fear that sated her elder sister's worries. Jeanette said nothing on their swift walk back to their house, but inside she was beaming with reluctant joy. She knew that there was a possibility of the fears becoming refounded, but with the unwavering love of her young sister dearest, the chances of those fears dying away seemed a lot more comfortable.


End file.
